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Strike call as Kashmir violence worsens
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir (CNN) -- At least 19 people have been killed and as many as 20 were injured during weekend violence by suspected Islamic militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir. In the latest incident, police and paramilitary troops were in a stand-off with two armed militants, dressed as policemen, who killed a security guard and then barricaded themselves in a compound in Srinagar housing families of policemen. One of those militants, said to be from a group called Lashkar-e-Toiba, was killed by police early Sunday. Security forces are now searching for the other gunman who is believed to have escaped. At least two police officers were killed and eight wounded in the attack, police told the Associated Press Sunday. The attack in Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, sparked a 13-hour fight that ended Sunday, K. Rajindra Kumar, inspector general of police, said. Separately, one soldier was killed and five others wounded in an ambush of a Border Security Force vehicle by suspected Islamic guerrillas near Bijbehara, a town 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of Srinagar, said Tirath Acharya, spokesman for the paramilitary force. In another attack Sunday, a grenade explosion -- apparently aimed at a police patrol -- wounded at least 10 civilians when it fell in a marketplace in the nearby town of Sophiyan, police said. The violence comes as the main moderate separatist group issued a statement calling a general strike for Tuesday and urging Kashmiris not to vote in the election, which India hopes will bolster its rule in the mainly Muslim state, Reuters reports. "We appeal to the people of Kashmir to observe a complete strike on Tuesday," the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference said in a statement. "Show the world community that we don't want an election." Such strike calls are normally observed as much out of a general fear of violence as support for the strike and it may affect the turnout in Tuesday's second round. Despite a similar strike in last week's first round, about 48 percent of registered voters turned out for the first phase of the election. Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee blamed Pakistan for the rise in violence ahead of the polling days. Vajpayee said Sunday the latest attacks showed that Islamabad was not doing enough to stop cross-border incursions by Islamic rebels, who have vowed to disrupt the elections. Apart from the police compound siege, two campaign workers for Kashmir's ruling National Conference were killed by suspected Islamists. A ruling party political activist, Ghulam Mohammed Perey, was shot and killed by militants in Budgam in central Kashmir, earl on Saturday evening. He was the second National Conference activist killed Saturday. Another had been shot to death by suspected militants in Anantnag, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside Srinagar, police said. And 11 people were injured in Kokermag, 70 kilometers (40 miles) south of Srinagar, as a grenade was hurled at three vehicles belonging to the Congress Party. Nearly 460 people -- including 45 politicians and campaign workers -- have been killed in Kashmir since elections were announced in early August. Indian police blame Kashmiri militants for the increase in violence. In other Kashmir violence, according to Indian police: -- A schoolteacher was shot to death by suspected Islamic militants Saturday on the outskirts of Srinagar. -- A truck driver and his assistant were pulled off the highway in Kulgam early Saturday, and shot and killed. -- Three residents of Watkay were abducted from the village Friday night. Two were killed and one escaped. Another attack on ministerAnd Kashmir's only female minister has survived a second assassination bid within the past 24 hours by suspected Islamic militants -- the fourth attack overall on her life since election campaigning began in the Indian-controlled region. Indian police say a paramilitary guard and a bystander were killed when gunmen detonated a remote-controlled bomb before opening fire on Tourism Minister Sakina Itoo's vehicle convoy on Saturday. An escort car, which was carrying the guard, was destroyed in the attack but Itoo was not injured. (Minister attack) Kashmir enters the second phase of its four-phase voting on Tuesday. The election's final phase will be on October 8. Voting for the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir state assembly is being staggered to allow India to put adequate security in place. --CNN Producers Rohat Gandhi and Suhasini Haidar contributed to this report.
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